


Happier

by LilacIcarus



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Jumping to Conclusions, M/M, Rivals to Lovers, Song: Happier (Bastille), dumbass energy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28492323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacIcarus/pseuds/LilacIcarus
Summary: Lately, I've been, I've been thinking/I want you to be happier, I want you to be happier/Even though I might not like this/I think that you'll be happier, I want you to be happierKeith reevaluates his relationship with Lance.
Relationships: KeithxLance - Relationship, Klance - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in five hours in a caffeine exacerbated manic phase whilst listening to Happier by Bastille on repeat, pls don't @ me for any mistakes. #Baby'sFirstFanfic  
> Also do recommend listening to the song at least once.

After seven years, Keith thought he knew Lance. They’d crashed into each other’s lives in high school and battled a fierce rivalry over, well, everything. They’d fought over grades, fought over sports, fought over what colleges they got into. Then they both were accepted into the exclusive engineering program at University of Altea, and their rivalry continued there. They’d fought over class sections, they fought over study guides, and they fought over sharing notes. Then they both made it onto the robotics team, and their teammates helped redirect the fierce competition from each other to the other teams. They grew closer to their teammates- Shiro, the team captain, Pidge, the kid genius, Hunk, the fix it man, and Allura, the visionary. Their team grew into a little family, something Keith had never really had before. And as they each grew closer to the team, they grew closer to each other.

Keith was forever indebted to Shiro, who was the first person he’d come out to. Shiro had laughed and asked if Keith had met his fiance, Adam. Shiro’s acceptance had given him the courage to come out to the rest of the team- after which, Lance had immediately outed himself as bi. Keith had accused him of lying to try to steal his thunder, and somehow the resulting tussle had shifted from angry wrestling to a passionate kiss. Pidge had thrown a book at them and told them to get a room. Later, Lance claimed that it was because Keith had told him to “prove it”, so he had initiated the kiss. Keith said that Lance had told him to “make me”, and so he had initiated the kiss. Regardless, it was the start of a, thus far, long relationship that Pidge said was “nauseating” and Hunk thought was “sweet”. They still argued as much as they actually talked, but as they neared their last semester of college, Keith had started looking at rings. He didn’t know much about love or family, but he knew that Lance was his forever, and he didn’t want to do life after college without him.

That is, until he saw the text from Allura. He hadn’t meant to be snooping, but he’d borrowed Lance’s phone- with his permission- to google the phone number for his hotel for the conference he was attending and the notification popped up. He knew that she always ended her texts with a little x, Shiro had vaguely said it was “one of those British things” when Keith had asked, but he’d never seen any of her texts in the group chat end with a giant XOXO. Especially when the message preceding the XOXO was “Once he leaves town tonight, I’ll come over. See you soon!” Keith’s stomach turned. He refused to open the notification to read any of the other texts- he wasn’t a snoop, and it was an accident he’d read this one in the first place. He swallowed hard and sent the phone number for the hotel to himself and returned the phone to the kitchenette counter, near where Lance was cooking lunch and singing with the radio. He dodged the kiss Lance tried to drop on his cheek, excusing himself to go pack.

Once securely shut in Lance’s room, he scrubbed the wetness from his eyes and shoved as much of his stuff into his luggage as possible. They’d gotten a two room dorm together so they were technically roommates, but Keith had pretty much moved into Lance’s room at the beginning of the semester. His heart sank a little more as he realized that once he got back from the conference in a week he’d still have to live in the same dorm and share a bathroom and living space with Lance. Panic twisted up through his chest into his throat and he gasped as the sharp thorns dug in. _Oh my God, what am I gonna do?_ His hands shook as he grabbed his phone from the charger beside his side of the bed. _There won’t be a ‘my side’ of the bed much longer, just my bed._ He jabbed his finger at Shiro’s contact and shivered as the phone rang. After two rings, he picked up.

“Are you ok? You never call me.” Shiro sounded wildly concerned, and that was fair. Keith hated making phone calls with a fiery passion.

“Pick me up. Please. I need to go.” Keith’s strangled whisper barely made it through the phone. He heard keys jingle and a door slam over the phone, running footsteps and a car door opening and slamming.

“I’ll be there in five, just don’t do anything stupid.” The engine revved and his tired screeched slightly as he pulled out of the parking lot. The sound almost comforted Keith. _Shiro will be here soon, this will all be okay._ Keith hung up the phone and grabbed his bags of stuff, setting the one for the conference just outside the bedroom door and chucking the other one into his room before locking his bedroom door. His scowl intensified and the ache in his chest sharpened as Lance burst into a loud chorus of the song on the radio.

“Lately, lately, I been thinking- hey, Keith, where you going?” Lance called after him, catching him unsuccessfully trying to sneak out of the apartment. Keith froze midstep, hesitated, then continued to the door with his conference bag.

“Change of plans, I gotta head out sooner,” he said gruffly, not turning.

“But I made all this food!” Lance protested. Keith twisted the handle to the front door.

“Share it with Allura then,” he said snidely, then slammed the door behind him, leaving Lance staring after him. Keith found Shiro’s truck quickly, idling in the door parking lot, and he stormed over to it and clambered inside, slamming the truck door. Shiro winced, but didn’t comment. He pulled out of the parking lot and started driving in the direction of the highway. Keith could feel the silent question growing, pressing down on him, but he knew Shiro wouldn’t say anything until Keith did. They made it a mile before the pressure became too much. “Lance has been texting Allura.” Keith blurted, then flushed, feeling ridiculous.

“Allura texts all of us from time to time,” Shiro said slowly, unsure of what Keith was getting at. Keith huffed a frustrated breath.

“Does she ever text you about coming over after your fiance leaves town? And signs it with two big hugs and kisses?” he crossed his arms over his aching chest and glared out the passenger window. Shiro was quiet for a long moment, thinking.

“Did you ask Lance about it?”

“Of course I didn’t ask Lance about it. I didn’t want him to think I was snooping, which I wasn’t! He let me borrow his phone and the notification just popped up.”

“So you didn’t see the rest of the conversation?” Keith levelled his glare at the other man.

“No, but I don’t need to. I know that he’s not happy. We argue all the damn time. We’re just too different.” Lance had a big family and wanted a big family. He wanted kids and nieces and nephews and a future. Keith had none of that and wasn’t sure he wanted them. _God, how could I have been so stupid? We never would have worked._

“Do you really know that he’s not happy? Have you talked to him about this?” Shiro was talking complete sense, of course, but it just made Keith angry.

“What does it matter? Even if he is happy now, he won’t be later. Have you met him? He has no idea what is good for him, just last week he drank seven energy drinks in 24 hours. Ending it now would be better for everyone, and then Allura can tell their children years from now that they got together after she comforted him after his jerk boyfriend left him for no reason.”

“Keith, I really think you might be overreact-”

“Pull over,” Keith cut him off. He didn’t want to hear this from anyone, much less Shiro. After Shiro drove another minute in silence, Keith repeated his demand, louder. “Pull over, Shiro!”

“Look, at least let me get you to the airport, I don’t want you to be late to your flight because you couldn’t get a ride.” Keith shot him a stony look, but acquiesced, slumping in his seat for the rest of the ride refusing to look at the older man. The drive stretched on for fifteen long minutes, and Shiro sighed deeply as they pulled into the parking lot. As soon as they’d rolled to a stop, Keith pulled at the door handle- locked. He turned to glare at Shiro again. “I just wanted to tell you not to do anything too hasty. Give yourself a week before doing anything. You can have this conversation with him in person once you get back.” Keith reluctantly agreed. He didn’t want to talk to Lance anyway, so at least he got a bit of a vacation from him so it wouldn’t hurt quite so bad when he returned to their dorm room. When Keith nodded, Shiro unlocked the door and the smaller man slid out and disappeared into the airport. As his frame disappeared into the hustle and bustle, Shiro pulled out his phone and dialed.

“Yeah, we gotta talk….”


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is a dumbass and that is all.

The flight was long and terrible. Keith enjoyed flying and building planes. Riding on them? Not so much. He dragged himself from the weird smelling cab and checked into his hotel, which was actually fairly nice since the school was paying for it. He was making a presentation at the conference, which reflected well on the school, so they got him a swanky hotel room for the trouble of it all. As soon as he entered the room, he immediately showered the filth of the airport off of himself and then crawled into bed. It had been a long day and tomorrow would be longer. He hadn’t bothered turning his phone off airplane mode since entering the airport, and he didn’t intend to for at least another two days. As his eyes drifted shut and his mind drifted to sleep, all he could think about was how much he missed Lance. 

The bed felt empty and cold the next morning, and Keith drank about seven cups of coffee at the continental breakfast downstairs. He started regretting it on the cab ride over to the university where the conference was being hosted, and didn’t stop regretting it until the third presentation. There he was, being hand fed information about the latest scientific breakthroughs people were working on, and he was shaking his knees and scribbling illegible notes. By the third presentation he had calmed enough to listen, but it was a horrendously dull study on probability and alternate timelines. The topic itself would have been interesting, except that it was entirely theoretical physics and nothing could be substantiated. Additionally, the professor presenting the theory looked absolutely insane and kept insisting the color socks he wore could change the fate of the entire universe as we knew it. As they broke for lunch, he ate a sad looking sandwich from the cafeteria and tried not to think about all the funny things Lance would have had to say about the kooky professor. The next three presentations drew on for eternities as well, and Keith was thrilled when it was time to catch a cab back to his hotel. 

The moment he was back in his room, the door shut behind him, he flung himself on the bed and groaned. He allowed himself five minutes (or ten) to wallow in how terrible the day had been and then pulled himself back up again to locate his laptop. He brewed himself cup after cup of coffee as he ran through his presentation repeatedly, practicing answering potential audience questions, and making sure all his note cards were in the correct order. When he finally collapsed into bed, he thought about the alternate universe version of himself that hadn’t left his boyfriend in a huff and got to practice in front of an encouraging audience before having to present in front of total strangers. _ Screw that guy.  _

The next morning he drug himself out of bed and downed six cups of coffee downstairs before heading out to the university. He tried to breathe shallowly during his ride in another smelly taxi, and scribbled nervous notes during the first three lectures. For lunch he sat in the dining hall, staring at the soggy sandwich as his stomach churned with nerves. He was glad he’d left his phone at the hotel, still on airplane mode, because more than anything else he wanted to call Lance and hear all the reassuring words he’d be sure to have for him.  _ Stop being so lame. You’ve spent months on this, you’ll be fine. Get over it and get out there! You’re gonna do great.  _ He watched the minutes click by on his watch and drug his feet into the room ten minutes early so he could set up his PowerPoint. He finished far too quickly and sat nervously just off stage as people began to file in, nervously shuffling his notecards. When the professor introduced him and his topic,  _ Black Holes and the Theory of Relativity,  _ he took a deep breath and, imagining Lance’s encouraging smile one last time, walked up to the podium. He later had no recollection of his presentation, but according to the professor and several attendees, he did excellently and answered every question in a thought provoking and thorough manner. All Keith remembered was the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

The rest of the week progressed in a very similar fashion- Keith woke in an empty bed, drank far too much coffee, crammed more science into his brain than he had all semester, and went back to the hotel to ignore his phone, sulk, and sleep. On his last day, he stayed up for four hours imagining the life he’d return to. Images of Lance fawning over Allura flashed through his mind, bringing her flowers to robotics meetings, buying her gifts and taking her to fancy meals, all the romantic things Keith refused to let Lance do.  _ They’d be much happier with each other. They almost never fight, not like Lance and I do. She’d let him woo her and compliment her whenever he wanted, and he’d bring her home to his big family.  _ He pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes to suppress the tears.  _ This was only ever letting off steam, we’d been competing for so long it was inevitable. He never said the L word and neither did I, so I can’t get too upset, can I? It was just a college fling, and now he’s found someone to start his big family with, and I should be happy for him.  _ He wanted to turn on his phone so bad, but he knew that would only end with him embarrassing himself in some way, begging for Lance to come back or something equally humiliating. 

The next morning, he woke in the stupid, nice, empty hotel bed for the last time and gathered everything into his bag. He went downstairs and drank too much of the stupid, nice, fancy coffee in the breakfast area and hailed a stupid, smelly cab to the airport. Honestly,  _ fuck  _ this conference. He milled around the airport, having arrived far too early for his flight, and lingered in the gift shops. Little souvenirs, baubles, and shot glasses littered most of the gift shops, and others carried mostly necessities like toothpaste and neck pillows. He moped through the souvenir shop, feeling the impending loneliness seeping into his pores, but paused when something caught his eye. Pushed towards the back of the shelf was a ring, a white band with an intertwining band of red and blue. It was stupid, really, that it reminded him of his relationship, and even dumber that the dull pang in his chest made him pull the ring out and bring it up to the cash register. The bored teenager handed him his receipt and turned back to his phone, unaware and uninterested in the other man’s conflicting emotions. Keith slunk back to the waiting area for the planes and stared at the ring for the next several hours until his plane arrived. 

He was pulled from his stupor as a nice older woman tapped his shoulder and asked him if he was supposed to be on the plane that was boarding. He jumped, and thanked her repeatedly as they both boarded.  _ If I’d missed my plane because I was sulking in the waiting area, Shiro would never let me live it down.  _ Keith couldn’t decide if it was a stroke of good fortune or bad luck when he found out the older woman had the ticket for the seat next to him.  _ Krolia, _ she’d said her name was when they were seated.  _ What a weird name.  _ Regardless, she came off as almost motherly, and chatted with him casually as the plane started takeoff. She patted his hand gently as he white knuckled the armrest as they climbed in altitude, but pretended it was accidental so as not to embarrass him too much for accepting the comforting gesture. About an hour into the flight, she ventured a question about the ring. 

“You’d think it had done something to personally offend you, the way you were glaring at it!” she chortled. Keith warred with himself for a moment, debating sharing his life story with a stranger.  _ What the hell, it’s not like I’ll ever see her again.  _

“It’s for my boyfriend. Maybe. If he’s still my boyfriend.” He watched her out of the corner of his eye to catch her reaction, but she only expressed confusion. 

“How do you not know if he’s still your boyfriend?” 

“It’s kind of complicated.” She’d shot him a disbelieving look, and suddenly the story came tumbling out of him. “-and so I’ve been gone a week and haven’t turned my phone on at all, so I don’t know if he’s finally given up on me and run off with her or not.” She nodded thoughtfully for a long moment. 

“Boys really are stupid,” she mused. 

“Hey!” Keith protested, but she waved him off. 

“No, no, my husband was the same way. We were only married for a couple of years, but he was equally headstrong and stubborn about feelings.” Keith sat, staring awkwardly at his hands, unsure what to say. “Do you love this boy?” Krolia asked quickly, pinning him with a stern look when he rolled his eyes. 

“I- I guess. I don’t know, how can you tell?” 

“I can’t speak for everyone, but I suppose you know when that person is the first person you want to see in the morning and the last you see at night, and after a long day all you want to do is talk to them and tell them about your day,” Krolia said, looking equally thoughtful and sorrowful. Keith’s heart dropped to his gut. 

“Yeah,” he admitted faintly, “I do love him, and I guess I’ve known that for a while. That’s why I don’t want to turn on my phone. I don’t want it to be real.” Krolia rested her hand over his again. 

“Once we get off this plane, turn on your damn phone. Life is too short to not tell him how you feel. Take it from an old lady that’s made all these same mistakes.” Keith’s heart twisted in sympathy and he gently squeezed her hand in response. They spent the rest of the plane ride in silence. 


	3. Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith comes home.

When they disembarked the plane, Krolia swept him into a tight hug and handed him a napkin with a phone number scribbled on it. 

“Forgive me for wanting to know the outcome of the juiciest gossip I’ve heard in ages,” she’d said with a saucy wink. Then she’d sauntered away and out of Keith’s life. Keith trudged over to the baggage claim and tracked down his bag, then made his way out of the airport and sat on the sidewalk outside. He stared at his phone for a long time- he needed to turn it on eventually, he reasoned with himself. He was just stalling because he was scared. Taking a deep breath, he opened the settings and switched airplane mode off. It took several moments for it to update, then the notifications started pouring in. 

Missed Call from: Lance

Lance: Hey, did your flight leave already?

Lance: Guess it did, have a good flight!

Lance: I’m not sure when your flight lands, but I hope you get plenty of sleep before kicking ass at the conference tomorrow!

Missed Call from: Lance

Lance: It’s kind of late, but good night, sleep well

Lance: Good morning, have fun listening to nerds all day today

Pidge: yo can you send me your notes from the presentations later

Pidge: once they’re typed up tho, your handwriting is illegible

Lance: So a squirrel joined me at the outside tables today at lunch 

Lance: Weird right

Missed Call from: Lance

Lance: good night

Shiro: You should really call Lance whenever you have a minute, he’s a bit worried. We all are. 

Lance: good morning, good luck with your presentation today!

Lance: How’d your presentation go? 

Missed Call from: Lance

Lance: Hope everything went ok today, good night

Pidge: pls come get your bf he’s annoying me 

Hunk: Hey, are you alright? Lance keeps begging me for my snickerdoodle cookies and hot chocolate even though it’s summer… 

Lance: can’t wait for you to get back, totally bombed the pop quiz in Physics 3 without your notes

Lance: man I bet you forgot your phone charger

Lance: We’re gonna laugh at all these texts later

Missed Call from: Lance

Lance: my duuuuude its 2 am and im more thn a lil tispy rn, but im srry

Lance: i men idk what 4 but i am 

Lance: goodniglhrt 

Pidge: your boyfriend got sloppy drunk at Shiro’s, so I think you probably want to buy Shiro flowers or something for making sure his ass didn’t wander out into traffic

Shiro: turn on your damn phone

Lance: Good morning! I’m told I partied a little too hard last night so ignore any messages I sent you yesterday please and thank you

More and more messages kept popping up from the week that he’d been gone. Lance had texted him “Good morning” and “Good night” every single day, and any and all random thoughts he had had throughout the day that he thought Keith would appreciate. As the messages slowed to a stop, Keith sighed and laid against the concrete, staring at the clear sky.  _ Lance had kept texting him. He wanted to talk to him in the morning and at night. But Krolia said that…? Did that mean that Lance loved him?  _ His phone started buzzing again, and Keith picked it up before he even read who was calling. 

“Hello?” he said breathlessly. A brief silence rang over the phone. “Hello?” 

“Sorry, I just dropped dead of shock that you actually answered your phone,” Shiro drawled sarcastically. “What the hell, man?” he snapped. 

“I uh-,” Keith mentally scrambled for an excuse, but pretty quickly gave up. “I’m a dumbass, that’s what. I’m at the airport now.” Shiro grumbled and complained, but Keith heard the tell tale jingle of his keys and the door opening and closing. 

“Swear to God, kid,” Shiro mumbled. 

“See you soon!” Keith said quickly and hung up. As he waited, he scrolled through Lance’s messages again, a dumb grin pulling at his lips. A faint hope bloomed in his chest after a week of misery. As Shiro’s truck squealed to a stop in front of him, Keith jumped up and climbed inside with a smile. “Let’s go!” he urged as soon as his door was shut. Shiro shot him a dirty look and pointed at his seatbelt, which Keith sheepishly clicked into place. Shiro then pulled out onto the road back into town. The closer they drew to the campus, the more anxious Keith got, and he drummed his fingers on the dash as he leaned into the side window. The minute they slowed in the appropriate parking lot, Keith was pulling off his seat belt and hopping out of the car, despite Shiro’s protests. He waved and shot him the “call you later” phone gesture and turned and ran back into the building. Shiro shook his head in disbelief and pulled into a parking space, shooting Pidge a text and settling in to wait. 

Keith bounded up the stairs of the dorms and burst into his shared dorm with Lance. Burst into the empty shared dorm, that is. He opened the door to both bedrooms, even though his was locked, and knocked on the bathroom door. Nothing. 

“Whatcha lookin’ for, cowboy?” Keith jumped violently, and spun to see Pidge leaning in the door to the hallway. 

“You scared me, Pidge. Where’s Lance?” 

“Well,” Pidge drawled out, “I seem to remember him talking about making plans of some sort, but I would know that because I don’t turn off my phone and ignore my friends for a week at a time.” Pidge’s narrow stare cut into him, and he smiled sheepishly. 

“Would it help if I said I was going through something?” They narrowed their eyes and waved a dismissive hand. 

“Just tell someone next time instead of cutting us all off, moron,” they said, “Now, hurry up and get changed into something less grody. We’re gonna be late.” 

“Late for what?” They raised an eyebrow at him, and he escaped to his room, performing the fastest quick change he’d ever seen. When he reemerged, Pidge was still standing in the doorway, looking bored. “Let’s go!” Keith urged, but Pidge didn’t budge. “Alright, I’m sorry, Pidge. I should have texted at least one of y’all to let you know I was ok,” he sighed. Pidge nodded in acknowledgement and straightened, heading out the door and down the hall. Keith quickly followed and locked the door behind him. Pidge led him downstairs and back to where Shiro was waiting in his truck. They all squeezed into the truck and Shiro started driving silently. “Where are we going?” Keith asked. Pidge and Shiro exchanged a disbelieving glance, like  _ look at this guy,  _ and turned back to watching the road. Pidge caught Keith’s gaze from the corner of their eye and jerked their head towards Shiro.  _ Right.  _ Keith cleared his throat. “I’m sorry for being a dumbass, Shiro. Next time I’ll text one of y’all and let you know I’m ok.” Shiro seemed to relax minutely and shot him a lopsided smile. 

“Patience, young one. It will be worth the wait.” Keith turned his attention back to the window and tried to track their route in the city. They seemed to just be driving in circles for about twenty minutes, then abruptly changed direction, heading directly towards Shiro’s house.  _ Really? All this distraction for Shiro’s house?  _ He didn’t see any other cars as they pulled into the driveway, and he slowly unbuckled and exited the car, dragging his feet as he followed Shiro and Pidge into the house. 

SURPRISE! The lights flicking on blinded him for a moment and he was knocked off kilter by someone tackling him. He stiffened for a moment before recognizing Lance's arms wrapped around his neck. He then melted into the other man’s arms. He heard Hunk and Allura chatting with Shiro and Pidge in the background, but this was all he cared about in the moment. 

“I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly,” Keith murmured into Lance’s shoulder, “I just got caught up in my own head and-” Lance shushed him. 

“I figured out what happened pretty quick after you left. Shiro also had mentioned you were kind of upset when you left. I was texting Allura so we could plan this stupid party,” Lance laughed, muffled against Keith. Keith immediately felt crushed by guilt. 

“I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed the worst, I just-”

“It looked really bad, didn’t it?” Lance said, chagrined. “I’d have assumed the worst too.” 

“Well, and I haven’t been completely honest with you,” Keith started. The other conversations trailed off and Lance pulled back to stare at him confusedly. “I met this lady on the plane that made me realize I wasn’t telling the truth- well, it wasn’t exactly a lie, but by not telling you it’s kind of a lie, but definitely not the truth-” he cut himself off and pinched the bridge of his nose.  _ God, how to say this?  _ “I, er- I want to see you every night before I go to sleep. And every morning when I wake up. And I want you to tell me about every squirrel you see and I want to tell you about the absolute psycho that was at the conference talking about alternate universes, and I guess what I’m trying to say is that you’re the rest of my life.” Keith fished the ring out of his pocket, his ears burning with embarrassment. He wasn’t looking at Lance, too afraid to see his reaction as he pushed the ring into the other man’s hands. The silence stretched long and thin, and Keith finally couldn’t bear it anymore and looked. Lance’s eyes were wide as saucers and filled with an emotion Keith couldn’t quite place, but was somewhere near adoration and awe. 

“Oh my God,” Pidge snickered, “He finally did it. He rendered Lance speechless. I didn’t think it could be done.” Shiro wound an arm around their neck and pulled them in for a quick noogie. Hunk looked to be about one second away from bursting into tears and Allura was beaming proudly at both of them. 

“I love you too, dumbass!” Lance pulled him into another hug and pressed a kiss against his cheek. He pulled away before Keith could reciprocate and turned to grin at Allura. “He beat me to it!” Keith stared at the two of them, dumbfounded. “She was helping  _ me  _ find a ring so  _ I  _ could propose to  _ you _ , but I guess you just always have to one up me,” Lance teased, pulling a box from his pocket. He opened the box to reveal a ring inlaid with working gears, so the ring twisted and spun when he fidgeted with it. Keith slid the ring on and pulled Lance into a lingering kiss as everyone whooped. 

_ Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been thinking, I want you to be happier _

_ I want you to be happier _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for bearing with me, y'all! I appreciate your time. :)


End file.
